| 2003
Award winners
A-H |
I-Q | R-Z
Safe Anchor Trust
The Trust aims to provide special needs groups
with access to canals, and supports community groups who have difficulty
in taking part in everyday leisure activities.
Established in 1995 to support and continue the canal trips project
developed by the Probation Service, by December 2001, over 12,000
passengers associated with 200 community groups had enjoyed outings
on the Trust’s boats. To date, some 15,000 people from over
250 community organisations have benefited from the Trust’s
work.
There are three boats – the Lady Rhodes, the E Austen Johnson
and the Lady Victoria – which cater for those with walking
difficulties or using wheelchairs and, more recently, people with
learning difficulties. No charge is made for the services provided,
the Trust relying solely on voluntary contributions and donations.
In 1997, the Trust entered into partnership with British Waterways
(Aire and Calder Navigation) to help maintain tow-paths and improve
the environment. The Trust have provided two work boats which are
managed by Probation Service staff who direct and supervise people
ordered by the local courts to do community service work. This project
had made significant improvements to the tow-paths, increased safety
and eased public access.
Contact: 01924 408972
Sheltered Work Opportunities Project
This registered charity was set up in 1990 to
address the need for meaningful occupation in a supportive and pressure-free
environment, for adults with severe and enduring mental illness.
SWOP aims to use the therapeutic nature of horticulture to restore
mental well-being, and believes that by offering volunteers love
and respect they can regain their self-esteem and confidence and
begin to feel of worth as human beings again.
Cherry Tree Nursery, SWOP’s first project,
is a successful wholesale commercial shrub nursery covering 4.5
acres. There are 100 volunteers. The nursery produces over 90,000
finished shrubs, 100,000 liners, 125,000 cuttings and 1,000 specimen-sized
shrubs annually. Volunteers work in all aspects of the nursery,
from taking cuttings and laying slabs to operating the till, issuing
invoices and delivering plants. Cherry Tree offers a wide range
of support including literacy and numeracy classes, introduction
to computers, a specialist Disability Rights Advice Service, access
to a Community Psychiatric Nurse and a wide range of social activities
and events.
Contact: 01202-593537
 Tandem
Established in 1981, the Year of Disabled People, Tandem provides
wheelchair accessible ambulance transport for elderly and disabled
people in the Midhurst and Petworth area. In 2002, nearly 7000 passengers
were carried. The group also organise a weekly club for nursing
home residents and the housebound.
Contact: 01730 813962
The Standish Friendly Visiting Group
Founded in 1967, this group provides suitable persons to visit
elderly and housebound people who are living alone and who are isolated
and without much contact with the outside world. These regular one-to-one
visits reduce isolation and improve the mental and physical health
of those being visited. Over the last 34 years, 174 elderly and
housebound people have received regular one-to-one visits.
Two ‘get togethers’ are arranged during the year to
visit interesting places, using special coaches able to accommodate
wheelchairs.
The group started when its founder – Mrs
Clara Wood JP – was upset by the wilful destruction and damage
caused by Youth Club members to equipment donated by Wigan Youth
Committee. Some of the young people asked her to suggest something
useful to do. At her suggestion, they produced a list of 26 elderly,
housebound people who lived alone. In pairs, the young people started
to visit them, doing their shopping, changing their library books,
tidying gardens and providing company.
Once these young visitors had left school and moved on, the role
of visiting was taken on by retired people from other groups in
Standish. In addition to providing company and doing shopping etc,
these visitors are alert to the need for special equipment and to
any potential household hazards. Visits continue when people move
into retirement homes in order to maintain their link with the local
community.
Contact: via the Award Office on 0845 000 2002
 Thorncombe
First Responders
Thorncombe, in Somerset, is on the edge of the county border, and
it can take an ambulance up to 45 minutes to reach the village and
surrounding area. In many cases, especially with incidents such
as heart attacks, the time taken getting to the patient can be critical.
It was therefore decided to establish a team of local people who,
in an emergency, could quickly get to casualties and initiate treatment.
Since its inception in 1998, TFR have attended 156 emergency calls
from the community of around 700. Many of these calls have been
serious and TFR’s prompt action has, without doubt, saved
lives. Volunteers are trained in first aid and the use of the defibrillator,
oxygen therapy and bag, and mask resuscitation. TFR and the local
community raise all the funding.
As an offshoot of the main scheme, TFR also respond to ‘Care
Line’ calls from elderly people in the parish who have panic
buttons installed in their homes. Those who call for assistance
are in the first instance visited by the duty First Responder. Such
calls are usually made because people have fallen over, feel generally
unwell or find themselves in difficulty.
Contact: 01460 30189
 The
Trussell Trust Food Bank
This project provides emergency food for Wiltshire
people who are in short-term crisis by immediately providing enough
food for 3 days. Over 70 groups now refer people to the Bank for
emergency help.
In 2002/3, 13½ tonnes of tinned and dried food were collected.
To cope with an ever-increasing demand for emergency food the project
now collects food through schools, churches, groups and supermarket
collection days.
136 volunteers give their time to the Bank to carry out social
community action in a safe and structured environment. They do all
the food sorting, food box packing and much of the distribution.
Contact: 01722 411244
Web: www.trusselltrust.org
 The
WIRE
The WIRE started in 1996 and aims to respond to the real day-to-day
needs of residents of all cultures, beliefs and abilities in Wick,
West Sussex. It does this by starting friendships and introducing
support networks, and through empowerment, mutual support and practical
activities.
The WIRE works alongside existing community projects and develops
new initiatives for the children, young people and families. The
many activities provided for the community include:
• playscheme
• a disco for children aged 7 to 13
• a club run in partnership with local schools providing invited
children with a nutritional start to the day
• an after-school dance class for girls aged 7 to 11
• after-school activities for small groups of children and
young people
• a week-long community festival
• a local radio station running before and during the Wick
Festival
• regular youth events, often in the form of a night-club
• ‘virtual parenting’ and parenting courses
• toddler group.
Contact: Tel/Fax 01903 731796
E-mail: info@thewire.screaming.net
 The
XL Project
This Christian based charity was set up in 1996 with the aim of
assisting and supporting schools in the ethical, spiritual and relational
aspects of the National Education curriculum. The project has grown
quickly and volunteers now work in 25 schools in South London. Its
work includes leading 14 lunchtime groups a week (involving about
300 young people) and about 150 lessons a year on Religious Education
and Personal, Social and Health Education; running 30 school assemblies
and four arts showcases a year (the latter with more than 100 performers)
and an arts training school.
The Arts Showcase provides a platform for young
people in secondary schools to show their talent in the performing
arts. There are three borough-wide heats and the top four acts from
each heat go forward to the Arts Showcase Final. Four young people
from the Academy at Peckham heard about the Arts Showcase at a weekly
lunchclub that XLP runs. Before entering and winning Southwark Arts
Showcase, they received coaching at the XLP Arts Training School.
Since then they have performed at other XLP events and various other
community events.
Contact: 020-7277-9726
email: info@xlp.org.uk
 York
Students in Schools (YSIS)
YSIS co-ordinates all school-based volunteering at The University
of York. It aims to:
• help pupils by introducing volunteers to support the classroom
teacher
• help children who are not realising their potential to raise
their achievements and aspirations
• introduce children who have little background of higher
education in their families to University life, thus supporting
the government’s commitment to widening participation
• provide opportunities for students to become involved in
their community.
Student Tutoring is YSIS’s largest programme, placing over
390 students in 2002-2003. It supports teachers in the classroom
and increases students’ aspirations and motivation. They help
in all areas of the curriculum and across all age groups from 3-18
in schools and after-school clubs. Activities include:
• language and literacy support
• support for gifted and talented secondary pupils
• out of hours learning
• music, dance, drama, IT, sport, science
• School Trips – at home and abroad!
Contact: 01904 434397
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